The death of a git, the rise of a hero...

\"Here it is.\"

Hermione muttered under her breath, her eyes falling on a familiar book\'s spine. She could have checked in Severus\' library for it, but it still felt wrong to trespass, even though he wasn\'t there. She pulled the book from its place on the shelf, ignoring Madame Pince\'s imploring and confused gaze from a few feet away. She didn\'t question Hermione\'s presence in the restricted section.

Hermione brought the large book entitled; Circulus Caligineus. She flipped the book open, checking the index and then going to the said page. Her dark eyes widened as she soaked up the words on the page, her finger tracing along with her eyes as she muttered the paragraph under her breath until both came to a stop.

\"Just what I thought.\"

Hermione rushed out of the library, the book left open on a page explaining rings. Her breath coming out in shallow gasps, her eyes bright, her movements quick and rapid in excitement and all of this was the knowledge that there was some chance of saving Severus. Severus. She could already see his dark eyes, eyes that she had unlocked the secret behind. Eyes she could soon bask in if her plan went accordingly. She felt shaky.

I\'m going to get him back. Hermione thought firmly, her heart in her throat, some out of delight at her love\'s possible release...but mainly out of fear at the assumption of what would await her when she found him. If it\'s the last thing I do...I am going to get him back.

\"Harry.\" She muttered under her breath, knowing that he was the main person she needed to speak with. Harry and possibly Dumbledore if he was up to it. Her stomach did a strange flip then, almost a predecessor of what she did not yet know.

The Infirmary. That\'s where they would undoubtedly be.

Her shoes made a scraping sound as she jolted down the hallway, her eyes wildly looking round in case Harry had made his way after her. No such luck. More twists and turns and she was almost to her destination when she saw two figures ahead.

Flaming hair met her eyes, and she felt a bit of her softening at the sight of Ron. Dear Ron. How she\'d missed his humor, his mere comforting presence. He gave her a terse nod as she waved to him, her eyes traveling to his sullen companion.

Two downcast green eyes came into view, and a sudden lurch to her heart followed suit at seeing the familiar gaze, although it wasn\'t directed at her. She suddenly wondered if Harry still fancied her, and if her talking to him would only solidify his denial in her rejection of him...or if this would foul her plan.

\"Ron, Harry!\" Hermione shouted down the aphonic hallway, seeing her tall friend pacing back and forth in front of the Infirmary doors. Harry jerked his head up quickly, giving her a look that immediately silenced her. She realized her joyous cries were far too inappropriate considering the situation. In the said Infirmary Dumbledore lay, pale, and quiet, and possibly dying.

She snapped her mouth shut, thinning her lips until they were whitened with tension, and firmly stopping her from shouting her plan in Harry\'s face. He didn\'t look good. She was suddenly torn with the realization that perhaps even Harry couldn\'t help her. Surely saving her husband wasn\'t in the infamous prophecy of his.

\"Hello Ron.\" She said somberly, her wave faltering. \"It\'s been a while.\"

\"Yeah...well...\" Ron trailed off, awkwardly giving her a glance and another flash of a nod. \"You\'ve been busy I guess.\"

\"I suppose.\" Hermione nodded, giving her arm an awkward rub. \"I guess everyone heard what happened.\"

\"Yeah. Some kids in the common room.\" Ron nodded, absently rubbing his left eye a moment. \"So I uh, I came down to see...well.\" he gave another nod before turning his eyes to a blank looking Harry at his side, Hermione\'s gaze followed suit.

\"Harry.\" Hermione concluded softly, feeling as if he were a different person even though she\'d left him not even a half hour ago. He seemed changed now. \"How is...\" she didn\'t bother finishing.

\"He\'s in there.\" Harry said vaguely, nodding his head weakly at the closed Infirmary doors. \"McGonagall told me to wait out here.\" his voice dropped, barely a whisper between them. \"They think it\'s only a matter of time...but I know it is.\"

The proverbial wind in Hermione\'s sails went suddenly still, and her dark eyes became filled with hurt tears and her chin trembled. Hearing the words from Harry in that strange, hauntingly melancholy tone had struck a chord within her that she hadn\'t been expecting.

\"No.\" She said stiffly, her mouth now making that shaky motion along with her chin and her stomach feeling numb. \"He can\'t be.\"

To Hermione, Albus Dumbledore was invincible. He was Albus Dumbledore for God\'s sake. He\'d been through it all! The mere fact that he was somehow dying in the room next to her refused to process.

Hermione was suddenly reminded of the troll incident in their first year, and how they had all just become friends. They had never been broken up before. They had never had to come back together like this. It was as if the invisible fourth member of their group was slowly twining them back together, but all was not the same. They weren\'t the people they once were. They weren\'t children anymore. It wasn\'t a life of ignorant childhood bliss like before. They\'d seen death. They\'d lived through it.

She shook her head once more, refusing to answer Harry\'s previous comments. She met the eyes of Harry, seeing their flinty gaze unmoving on the stonewall and she was suddenly furious. He stood there, silently like a statue whilst Ron had turned his head, a few tears slipping unceremoniously down his cheeks. He angrily brushed them away and Hermione felt her fury towards the hardened Harry overtaking her.

\"How can you be so calm?\" The words tore the silence between them, as two sets of eyes were upon Hermione\'s reddening face.

\"So still? So unmoving?\" she demanded, her lips curving into a furious scowl as Harry\'s curious eyes met her own. \"After all he\'s done for you, how dare you just stand there? How can you be so heartless? How dare you just say it like that? Do you even care?\"

It was a stupid thing to say of course, but Hermione had no idea of the potency of her words. Harry said nothing, infuriating Hermione further. So much in fact, she felt dizzy, and her anger was making her breathless. She wanted to strike him. She wanted to smash her fist into his stomach, she wanted to see his tears. Tears for anything, tears for Dumbledore, tears for Severus, tears for death...

Before she could move to do anything, two warm arms of Harry\'s were around her shoulders, pulling and holding her tightly to him. Before what he was doing could register, she felt the warm, wet feeling of tears against her neck and she let her own fall as well. Her arms went around his as well, and they were crying together.

\"I do care.\" Harry whimpered softly, \"But I can\'t...\" he stopped a moment, realizing the cryptic way of his speech. \"I know you don\'t understand-\"

\"I do Harry.\" Hermione whispered against his cheek. \"I do.\"

For Hermione did know. Harry was seen to all as some demi-god, who\'d cheated death as an infant, who\'d brought victory to many, who\'d killed, who had almost been killed and had still survived through it all. She could see that he believed to cry now, at a moment when he should have been the strongest, how his tears were more harmful to him than any other.

Before she could say any more, Ron\'s arms were around both of their shoulders, awkwardly embracing them both. Instantaneously, one of Harry and Hermione\'s arms left one another to accommodate and wrap around the new figure\'s shoulders, the three of them huddled together in some strange, comforting embrace.

\"You\'re all I\'ll have left.\" Harry said to them softly, his tears dripping onto the stone floor. Hermione and Ron were silent, only their tears making swaying movements on their stoic faces. They didn\'t dare move.

Soon though, they broke apart and the magic of the moment had left them. They all slid onto the floor, wrapping their arms around their legs, silently looking to one another before Harry finally spoke.

\"Hermione,\" He said softly. \"You seemed pretty excited a few minutes ago. What happened?\"

Hermione was in an almost trance a moment, shaking her head suddenly. It was if a light had gone on, and she had just recalled of how to save Severus. Strange that she could have forgotten it even a moment.

\"I have a plan for getting Severus back.\" Hermione finally said, as Harry and Ron stared at her in that usual manner of theirs.

\"You can?\" Ron said in an awed whisper. \"But...but how?\"

Hermione, who would have normally been over the moon at the prospect of telling them all about her plan could only half heartedly retell her thoughts. The excitement was gone, leaving only an achingly sorrowful sentiment...what if there was no Severus to save? What if he had already met the same fate as Albus? Still...she needed help.

She held her left hand up in front of her face, her palm facing her and allowed Harry and Ron a moment to see the large gold band on her ring finger. The two of them viewed the purplish tinge on the top, the small skull imprint. They both held in a shudder of revulsion.

\"Voldemort gave us these.\" Hermione finally said, her mouth thinning. \"Both to Severus and I...for our wedding.\"

\"I see.\" Harry said grimly, his face screwing up into a grimace. Ron was the first to implore.

\"How is this going to help you find him?\"

\"Severus is wearing the matching wedding band.\" Hermione said gently, the life draining from her eyes as Harry and Ron seemed to start to understand. They both looked to her intensely, as if waiting for her to confirm their notions.

\"A tracking spell.\" Harry finally uttered lowly, his eyes trained on Hermione\'s as she nodded darkly.

\"Precisely.\"

* * *

\"Are you mad?\" Severus bellowed out, looking at Lucius in disgust. He thrashed in his invisible holds, his chest heaving with furious indignation, his fists curling into tense fists. \"I\'d never harm her.\"

It was out in the open now. There was no going back. Voldemort would know. Everyone would know that he had been tricking him or her. That he did love her...that he loved a Mudblood, their infamous enemy. He did.

\"Tut tut tut...\" Lucius patronized, letting the smile take over his face as he watched the inner turmoil of the man before him. \"Do you really believe you\'ll have a choice Severus?\"

Snape\'s dark eyes were transfixed on Lucius own cold one\'s, clearly showcasing the immense pleasure the other man had, standing over his victim, waiting to strike. It was all too familiar from his Deatheater days, and he felt completely repulsed.

Lucius moved to his side, Severus\' dark eyes following the blonde man\'s travel. He felt his innards shaking, and he couldn\'t see how anything in this world could make him harm Hermione. Not even threatening death could make him do it.

\"You can just kill me now.\" Snape uttered with a curl of his lip. \"Any torture you come up with, any scheme you think you can trick me with...it will all amount to nothing. Nothing in this world could make me kill her.\"

\"Nothing?\" Lucius mused darkly, making his way slowly around Snape\'s figure.

\"Nothing.\" Snape answered flatly. \"Bring on the worst of your tortures, I\'ll face them all. Threaten me with death. None will make me kill Hermione Granger. Not you, not VOLDEMORT!\" Snape screamed the last part, hoping the Dark Lord could hear him.

Lucius paused a moment, letting his gaze fall on Severus\' once more before deciding on an abrupt change of subject.

\"You know your beloved Headmaster is dead.\"

\"Lies.\"

\"Truths.\" Lucius countered with a chuckle, \"It was your \'love\' that murdered him.\"

\"I don\'t believe you.\" Snape said through gritted teeth. \"Hermione would...could never hurt anyone.\"

\"She punched my son in the nose her third year.\" Lucius said with a grimace and Snape was sure to let out a loud chuckle of defiance.

\"That proves nothing.\"

\"She disarmed you during that Shrieking Shack episode. Gave you quite the nasty gash. Made you temporarily unconscious...\" Lucius continued, seeing the sinking realization in Snape\'s clouding eyes. \"Or don\'t you recall?\"

\"She thought she was doing what was right.\" Snape insisted, \"She always does what is right.\"

\"She is a most powerful witch.\" Lucius commented airily.

\"She is.\"

\"Perhaps she believed killing Albus was right.\" Lucius continued breezily, \"Perhaps she believed that Voldemort had taken him over...Perhaps she killed him on the spot because he startled her...you know young girls...very prone to clumsiness.\"

Snape was silent.

\"But I suppose you\'re quite certain that your beloved Mudblood -that coincidentally enough is prone to violence, clumsiness and so forth- didn\'t murder Albus Dumbledore...\" Lucius trailed off, waiting for Snape to come to his senses. A Mudblood surely wasn\'t worth all that...

Lucius made his way back over to where Snape lay, invisibly bound. He peered into Snape\'s eyes, seeing a conflicted man within and smirked.

\"Well Severus?\" He said with a small tilt of his head. \"Do we have a deal?\"

There was an awful moment of silent, and Lucius viewed Snape\'s lips pursing into a response. What he wasn\'t expecting was the large amount of saliva that was then spat into one flinty and unsuspecting eye of his. With his one good eye he viewed the determined look in Severus\' eyes as he finally spoke.

\"Never.\"

Before he could say more, Lucius had pulled back and with careful precision, punched Severus\' jaw roughly. He pulled back after hearing the satisfying crack of it, as Snape groaned, left only with pain taking him over. Rubbing his knuckles, Lucius moved and started to rub at his eyes, disgusted and furious now.

\"YOU WON\'T HAVE A CHOICE!\" Lucius bellowed, and after a moment of furious rubbing at his eye he stopped, looking down at Severus as if he were a bug that inevitably needed to be squashed, merely for existing in his presence.

\"Your Mudblood will die.\" Lucius promised, looking to Snape with a wild look in his eyes. \"And it will be by your hands.\" He stopped a moment, allowing a simpering smile to take over his features.

\"Or should I say...it\'s on your hands?\" He mused, motioning to Snape\'s fingers. \"At this precise moment actually.\"

Severus looked down, seeing the purplish skull grinning back at him on his wedding band. The wedding rings. Suddenly it was clear, and before Severus could say or do or question anything, another punch to his face from Lucius came, and this time he was left with only darkness.